Jerkish

Jerkish
 n.— «The word is “Jerkish.” Originally coined by the Czech novelist Ivan Klima to describe the thoughtless, boiled-down language acceptable to Stalinist censors, he announced that Jerkish had been invented in America for communication between people and chimpanzees; it consists of 225 words. Now, says Alvarez, Jerkish really has spread to the West and its “codified stupidity” continues to flourish as the “sentimental and intolerant moral coercion of political correctness…the power of kitsch and cliché.”» —“Notebook” by Andrew Marr Telegraph (U.K.) Jan. 19, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

Diamond Dust (episode #1585)

Diamond dust, tapioca snow, and sugar icebergs — a 1955 glossary of arctic and subarctic terms describes the environment in ways that sound poetic. And a mom says her son is dating someone who’s non-binary. She supports their relationship, but...

It’s All in a Dezzick

The word dezzick is defined in an 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect as “a day’s work.” This is part of a complete episode.

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